[JURIST] European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso [official profile] has called on all European Union (EU) [official website] member states to collaborate in stemming the tide of illegal immigrants. On Thursday, Barroso wrote a letter [PDF text] to the heads of the 25 countries of the EU, stating that "the massive arrival of illegal immigrants to the European Union, mainly to the Spanish, Italian and Maltese coasts, is a European problem and requires a European effort." The letter comes a day after 900 refugees reached Spain's Canary Islands, bringing its total number of arrivals for 2006 to 22,000.

Barroso announced the creation of a special commission to address the problem, which EU Justice and Migration Commissioner Franco Frattini [official profile] will chair. The EC has devoted €3.2 million to patrolling the waters surrounding the Canary Islands, in addition to efforts of Frontex [official website], the EU's official border patrol agency. Last week, however, Frattini blamed a three-month Spanish amnesty program [JURIST report] for encouraging the wave of immigrants. Spain plans to hold a meeting with leaders from eight other EU states later this month to discuss approaches. EUObserver.com has more. El Pais has local coverage [in Spanish].

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination

March 21 is the International
Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination [UNESCO
factsheet].On March 21, 1804, the
Code Civil des Francais, the reformed French
civil law often referred to in French as the Code Napoleon, and in
English as the Napoleonic Code, went into effect in France, Belgium,
Luxembourg, and French colonies.

March from Selma begins

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. began
his third march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest racial
discrimination in the Jim Crow South. By March 25, over 25,000
people lead by Dr. King reached Montgomery, Alabama. Specifically,
the march called attention to suppression of African-American voting
rights and a police assault on a civil rights demonstration three
weeks prior.Five months
later, in August 1965, Congress passed the Voting
Rights Act. Read a history
of the march from Selma to Montgomery and a history
of the Voting Rights Act.